STATE TIMES NEWS
UDHAMPUR: Road Transport Authority (RTA), Udhampur, which met under the chairmanship of, Deputy Commissioner, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, decided 245 cases of permissions, route permits and introduction of new buses on routes facing scarcity of buses and mini buses.
At the outset ARTO Udhampur presented a resume of cases before the RTA indicating deficient / hungry routes, applications received for various classes of vehicles viz buses, mini buses, taxi cab, maxi cab, stage carriage and other classes of vehicles.
SSP Udhampur Suleman Choudhary highlighted the demands raised in PCPG meetings across the district related to shortage of buses and requirement for introduction of more buses as well as mini buses in these areas to avoid overloading.
The RTA approved nine cases of Taxi Cab, seven cases out of 25 applications for change of route, 27 permits out of 42 applications for stage carriage were granted. Likewise two auto Rikshaws and 10 bus permits were also introduced. The RTA decided to constitute a Committee of Office from Revenue, Police, Traffic Police, Municipal Council and Transport Department to identify specific routes outside city for 90 applications of Auto Rikshaws keeping in view the existing congestion in Udhampur town and need of passenger vehicles in outskirts. The committee will recommend specific routes and areas in a week’s time. The RTA also referred 49 cases of mini buses to a special committee for analysing route wise demand and furnishing the report before the RTA within 10 days .
The DC directed that RTA meeting shall be held every month and feedback shall be obtained from field agencies regarding requests of fresh permits, change of routes and other requests so that public demands are duly considered in the meeting. He also approved more than two dozen services / vehicles for Chanani, Sudhmahadev, Latti, Duddu, Basantgarh and Ramnagar routes.
Dr Shahid emphasised for participation of public, elected representatives, field officials of Revenue, Police and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in preliminary meeting of RTA to obtain effective response about the needs on ground. He also directed for safety audit of roads and fixing responsibilities in cases of road accidents for initiating stern and exemplary action.
